Texas Loses Roy Evans

One of the great men of Local 848's history, Roy Evans, died on December 18, according to the Texas AFL-CIO. Evans had lived in Austin for many years, but was president of our local union in the 1950s. Evans had many friends in our local. He had friends and admirers all over the Texas labor movement. I can piece together some of the history from interviews I conducted with Roy Evans and with some of his contemporaries.

Roy and his twin brother, Ray, hired into Vought soon after the company moved here from Connecticut in 1948. They took over the old North American Aviation "B," or "bomber" plant, which was the western half of the facility now known as Vought's Jefferson Street facility. The eastern half was occupied by Temco.

The company gave official reasons for having moved from Connecticut, but Roy Evans asserted to me that they were largely motivated by the search for cheaper labor. Roy and Ray worked hard to get the new worksite organized into the UAW, as Temco was and North American had been. It was not an easy fight. Both Roy and Ray also participated in other UAW organizing during the period. In 1949, UAW Local 893 was chartered at Vought.

Roy felt that he had earned the right to be president from the beginning of the local, but the UAW International brought in another man from Detroit who held that honor. Roy must have had quite a reputation for civil rights during those days of rigid segregation when African Americans could only get the hardest, lowest paying, and most menial jobs at Vought or anywhere else. I heard a number of stories about him. When he ran for president, one of the committeemen rode around the plant on a scooter yelling, "Don't vote for Roy Evans, he'll let the n…'s on the machines." African Americans at that time did not operate any machine more complicated than a broom. Roy told me that story with a big grin and added, "And I did, too."

He also told me about going to meetings in segregated hotels with another leader from the Congress of Industrial Organizations (CIO). He was president of the Packinghouse Workers in Ft Worth, and he was an African American. Roy, who was Anglo, and he pretended that Roy was rich and the other man was a servant, just to get into the meeting places! When the CIO held its statewide meeting at the luxurious Shamrock Hotel in Houston, the management cancelled their reservation rather than let Black union leaders participate in a banquet with whites. Roy Evans set up tables in the downstairs parking garage and held the integrated CIO banquet there rather than give in to segregation!

Local 893 had a proud history. It was eventually merged with two other locals to make UAW 848 in 1962, after financier Jimmy Ling put the companies together as Ling-Tempco-Vought, which eventually became LTV. Ling died, coincidentally, just about the same time that Roy Evans did.

Roy Evans headed the Dallas CIO and, eventually, the State CIO. When the CIO merged itself into its old enemy and became the AFL-CIO, Roy continued as leader. Things got sticky in 1958 when UAW President Walter Reuther pulled the UAW out of the AFL-CIO. Roy never mentioned this, but I picked up the story from others that the UAW removed him from membership rather than let him continue his Texas AFL-CIO leadership work. After that, Roy was a member of a half a dozen other unions as he worked with the state federation.

He became an expert on workers' comp issues and continued consulting work in Austin until his death. He was an avid reader and supporter of the UAW 848 newspaper and often wrote praising letters to the editors. He cooperated with me in late 1998 when I asked him to make predictions for the following year. They would make pretty good predictions as we go into 2005:

Retired President Makes Predictions

For the first Aerospacer of 1999, we asked Roy Evans to make some comments about the coming year. Roy was President
of our local and a leader in the Texas labor movement for many years.

(1) The labor movement, it's members and leaders, will continue having to deal with layoffs as employers continue to merge, reduce production, and fear that the economy will sour after years of amazing economic progress.

(2) Political rightists and phony Christians (Christ was not mean spirited, negative and full of hate) will continue trying to crucify Bill and Hillary Clinton, Albert Gore, the Democratic Party, and the Labor Movement.

(4) Texas Republican leaders (after winning all the statewide elections except the Speaker) will yield to the radical right and support anti-worker legislation like the so-called "Paycheck Deception House bill 407 by Harvey Hilderbran (Kerrville). This is similar legislation that was defeated by the California Labor Movement this year. If passed, it would attempt to prevent Texas Labor's involvement in Texas elections. (This proposed legislation seems patently unconstitutional but who knows how the very conservative Texas Supreme Court would rule.)

(3) On the national level, Labor will have a mean fight on several major issues such as changes Social Security (many rightists would prefer cutting their taxes). I predict that President Clinton will be tried in the US Senate but not found guilty of constitutional offenses.

Challenges and opportunities for union folks? The same as we have faced over the years:
Keeping our sense of humor, our vigilance, our love for democracy and our belief in free enterprise as limited by law. The leaders of Labor will continue to have the challenge of maintaining good communication and faith with the members.

--Roy Evans

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I think it was around 2000, at the Texas AFL-CIO convention, that RoyEvans was especially honored and given a place in the Texas Labor Hall of Fame. That was the last time I got a picture of him.

As far as I could tell, Roy Evans loved his union local and his union movement throughout his long life and right up to the end.

--Gene Lantz

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Below is what came in from Ed Sills of the Texas AFL-CIO:

Dec 20, 2004 Former Texas AFL-CIO President Roy Evans Dead at 79-

Former Texas AFL-CIO President Roy Evans died Saturday after a long illness, his son, Jim Evans, reports.

Evans, known for his active participation in the civil rights movement and his advocacy on workers' compensation, served as the state federation's president from 1971 to 1973, after a stint as secretary-treasurer under former President Hank Brown.

Jim Evans said a memorial service will be held in celebration of Roy Evans's life on Feb. 13, which would have been his 80th birthday. Details are being arranged. Jim Evans may be reached at jevans@evanscabinets.com.

Evans's bio is encapsulated on the plaque presented to him when he was inducted into the Texas Labor Hall of Fame:

"A union leader whose accomplishments have ranged widely through the labor arena in Texas, Roy Evans has devoted his life to promoting the cause of working people.

From humble beginnings selling magazines and tending to livestock in Oklahoma, Evans held a series of jobs that, at one time or another, made him an active member of UAW, OPEIU, IAM, IUE, The Newspaper Guild and AFGE, as well as Administrative Vice President of the CIO. He was a full-time President of a UAW local from 1956 to 1961, then moved to the Texas AFL-CIO, where he served as public relations director, Secretary-Treasurer and President.

Among Evans's achievements are the insertion of a strong labor voice during the evolution of the workers' compensation system in Texas. He was labor's negotiator during talks over workers' comp reforms from 1967 to 1969, later served on the Industrial Accident Board and, more recently, served as a workers' comp advisor and liaison for the U.S. Department of Labor.

Evans was the first Board President of the Texas Labor Movement Foundation, which collects oral histories from union members in Texas."

To this necessarily brief summary, it should be added that Evans was proud of his participation in the UFW's Texas campaign for dignity in the 1960s, including a well-chronicled march on the Texas Capitol in 1966.

The Texas AFL-CIO joins the entire labor movement in mourning the passing of a leader who made a difference.